Chapter 535 - Asking Teammates to Die

As Six-Path Flower described its abilities, the Flower God couldn’t help but applaud beside it. “Impressive, truly impressive!”

Although it had no hands, it could shape energy to mimic the gesture.

Six-Paths Flower remained modest. “Not bad, I suppose. There’s no other choice. At this point, I can only go all-in on the Reincarnation attribute. Honestly, I prefer simpler, more straightforward abilities now.”

The Divine Tree still felt that Six-Path Flower’s personality had changed too drastically. In human terms, the current Six-Path Flower was pretending to be modest after gaining an advantage. The Divine Tree turned its gaze toward Lu Ran, suspecting that Six-Path Flower had been corrupted by the messenger of Time.

However, what the Divine Tree didn’t know was that Six-Path Flower wasn’t lying. While the Reincarnation attribute was undoubtedly powerful, as a non-combat-type familiar, Six-Path Flower sometimes felt a sense of helplessness.

For example, if it encountered an enemy of Superior-Legendary rank, someone like Void Grass could likely kill them with a single slash of its sword. However, for Six-Path Flower, even though the Asura Path and Hell Path were strong, they couldn’t compare to the sheer lethality of a perfectly honed Star-Splitting Sword Intent. It couldn’t easily overpower opponents of the same rank.

This was evident from the earlier Mythical secret realm. Even as a Low Legendary, Six-Path Flower didn’t have an overwhelming advantage against opponents of the same rank.

Now, although it had gained powerful new abilities, using them to defeat enemies still seemed inefficient. Six-Path Flower could send 10,000 souls into reincarnation, creating endless potential threats for its enemies.

However, fulfilling this reincarnation destiny could take an unknown amount of time—maybe centuries, millennia, or even tens of thousands of years. Because of this, Six-Path Flower felt that while this ability was strong, it was too slow to achieve its purpose. It’s only suitable for long-term planning, not for immediate combat use.

In a direct fight, even against an Intermediate-Legendary opponent, Six-Path Flower felt it would still need to put in considerable effort. Such was the plight of a non-combat-type familiar.

Of course, there was no doubt that with Six-Path Flower’s infinite lifespan, combined with Fate Weaving and Reincarnation abilities, it would eventually become the most terrifying existence in the future because it was able to manipulate everything without even showing itself.

Lu Ran looked at Six-Path Flower and felt it was worried about being overpowered by Captain Doofus and Dark Crow in future team battles once their species ranks caught up. In immediate combat, Reincarnation abilities were indeed less efficient and direct compared to the Sword attribute or Spiritual-Speech-attribute skills.

While Six-Path Flower muttered to itself, Lu Ran’s mind was already racing with all sorts of clever schemes.

But this ability is absolutely top-tier for completing missions and self-cultivation!

For example, the hidden mission in this secret realm: killing an Intermediate Legendary without relying on external help. Now, it seemed like an easy problem to solve.

Lu Ran said, “Divine Tree, Flower God, may I ask... Are there any Legendary plant-type gods who are severely injured or nearing the end of their lifespans? Before we leave, why not let Six-Path Flower send these aging plant gods into reincarnation?

“With the Fate Weaving ability, their achievements in their next lives might not be lower than now, and their growth speed would also be guaranteed. Some non-Legendary, elderly warriors could also be sent into reincarnation by Six-Path Flower.”

The implied meaning was,

Are there any Intermediate-Legendary beings on the verge of death for Six-Path Flower to kill?

Completing missions didn’t always require brute force. Perhaps there were old-timers who would willingly offer their necks for reincarnation. If there weren’t any Intermediate-Legendary candidates, it didn’t matter. As long as they were teammates, killing them would still boost the tyrant’s monarchic power.

With the monarchic power amplifying skills, combat strength would naturally rise. This was the true way to use Fate and Reincarnation abilities. Luring others into willingly being killed, using reincarnation as a bargaining chip, and thereby enhancing one’s own abilities.

The Flower God hesitated for a moment before saying, “Speaking of which... Vine God was injured by the power of the Chaos Dragon God ten thousand years ago, and its wounds still haven’t healed. Moreover, it has been in a deep slumber for a long time. If it can seize this opportunity to reincarnate, it might be able to reach new heights before the Ten Thousand Year Agreement.”

The Flower God looked at the Divine Tree as if referring to the condition of a plant god from the Plant Era.

The Divine Tree spoke slowly. “Very well. This matter shall be entrusted to you. They don’t seem to have much time left.”

Although Six-Path Flower’s reception of the inheritance had seemed quick, over twenty days had already passed in the blink of an eye. During these twenty-plus days, Lu Ran had stayed by its side the entire time. As for the other familiars, aside from #18, Lu Ran had kept his promise and given them all a vacation.

He had said that before the World War, they would push themselves hard to gain admin privilege, after which they could relax. For this, Captain Doofus and the others had worked tirelessly.

Now that they had obtained the privilege, Lu Ran wouldn’t go back on his word. This ascension secret realm was their vacation paradise. Over the past twenty days, he had no idea what the others had been up to.

As for why #18 didn’t get a vacation, it was because it hadn’t been contracted at the time of the promise; it didn’t count. Lu Ran was nothing if not consistent.

Upon seeing that Lu Ran was trying to exploit another loophole, Six-Path Flower sighed, unsure if Limitless City would once again penalize Lu Ran, who already had its authority.

“Have you forgotten something else?”

It changed the subject and looked at the Divine Tree. There was still one important matter left unresolved. Now that Six-Path Flower had broken through to Superior Legendary, its strength had greatly increased, and it might even be able to fight gods like the God of War.

However, the greatest threat in the future was the Chaos Dragon God. The only way to counter the Chaos Dragon God was to awaken the Divine Tree in reality and restore it completely.

The Divine Tree said, “I haven’t forgotten. During this time, aside from helping you recover your power and memories, I’ve also been condensing this.”

As it spoke, a green fruit appeared before Lu Ran and Six-Path Flower, resembling the Flower God’s core.

[Name: World Fruit]

[Grade: Legendary]

[Description: A divine fruit condensed from the power of the world, capable of restoring the Divine Tree’s own strength.]

“In the battle you mentioned, I was likely too injured, or the world was too damaged, causing my authority over the world to decline. That’s why I couldn’t recover for so long. But now, I’m at my peak, and my control over the world is at its highest. This World Fruit, condensed with my full power, might help my injured self overcome the crisis.”

As the Divine Tree’s fruit landed in Six-Path Flower’s hand, Lu Ran fell into thought. “Indeed. Your battle with the Chaos Dragon God did shatter the world, but that probably wasn’t the most critical factor.

“After the Plant Era ended, the world entered a human-dominated Mechanical Era. At the end of that era, an apocalyptic war even more terrifying than the beast-plant war broke out. Stellar Moon World was nearly destroyed because of it. Even the Divine Dragons’ kin began preparing to find a new home.

“That war likely shattered the world even more severely, which might have affected you, who is deeply bound to Stellar Moon World.”

The Divine Tree said, “A human-dominated era... How fascinating fate can be. I’m even more curious about the future now.”

Six-Path Flower remained silent. Unfortunately, there was no future in an ascension realm.

What exactly is Limitless City? How can it manifest even a Primary Divine being without distinction? Do the Four Divine Dragons possess such power?

***

Lu Ran’s Legendary mission target was now confirmed. It was to hunt the Vine God mentioned by the Flower God. The Vine God happened to be an Intermediate Legendary. During its service to the Divine Tree, it had been severely injured by the residual power of the battle between the Divine Tree and the Chaos Dragon God, afflicted with wounds even the Divine Tree couldn’t heal.

It was relatively fortunate. In the battle ten thousand years ago, countless gods from both factions had perished, including Six-Path Flower and Void Grass. Surviving was already a miracle. However, it was doomed to die now, and at the hands of its own teammate, no less.

At this moment, Lu Ran began summoning his scattered familiars, urging them to return through their contracts.

***

Captain Doofus’ side.

After helping Condor Hero complete his mission, it had long since abandoned him to go off on its own. However, worried that Condor Hero might get bored, it had left behind a branch imbued with Star-Splitting Sword Intent for him to study. It was unclear whether Lu Ran’s sword-prodigy senior brother could comprehend this ultimate sword intent.

As for Captain Doofus itself, it had gone off to do what it had always wanted. In the void, a creature with energy-shaped three heads and six arms, resembling a werewolf, had been locked in fierce combat with a mantis for who knew how long.

Since the ascension realm would eventually disappear, Captain Doofus had decided to treat Stellar Moon World’s barrier as a training dummy, hacking away at it. It had always wanted to test its sword against the world’s barrier.

Unsurprisingly, the Void Mantis from the Divine Void Court had noticed. However, Captain Doofus was clever. It had long since learned Lu Ran’s trick of bluffing. As it clutched the deer antler in its mouth, it shapeshifted into a deer-dog form, pretending to have come from the Divine Deer’s side to fool the Void Mantis. And thus, it gained an exceptional sword-training partner.

Captain Doofus was having the time of its life. However, the swordgrass, sword spirit, and the lightsaber were miserable.

Isn’t this supposed to be a vacation?

Yet they had spent the entire time fighting.

***

Outside the Flower God’s secret realm, Sudden Death King had stayed in the forest outside the secret realm the entire time, never venturing out. Although the comical shield had wanted to explore the outside world, Sudden Death King had patiently explained that they had both fused with the Dragon God’s blood.

Right now, the Chaos Dragon God was also at its peak. If they were caught, they would be doomed. Even though Lu Ran had cast Time Shield on them, it still wasn’t entirely safe. Of course, with super admin privileges, they could be resurrected even if they died, but it was better to avoid sudden death if possible.

In the end, Sudden Death King and the comical shield had spent their time hiding in the forest outside the secret realm. But they hadn’t been idle. In the Plant Era, fruits and vegetables were abundant.

Sudden Death King had learned a thing or two from Lu Ran and spent its time researching fruit wines that could enhance defense, toasting with the comical shield, and striving to further develop the Drunken Dragon Mode.

***

In the outer seas of Stellar Moon, Dark Crow had flown here alone, capturing the remaining Evil God creatures lurking in the area. It knew a Legendary battle might be coming soon, so it wanted to prepare some sacrificial offerings in advance. However, this wasn’t Dark Crow’s main goal. Its true purpose was to follow Lu Ran’s example and do some grave-robbing.

However, after searching for a long time, Dark Crow couldn’t find any faith artifacts related to the Superior-Legendary Evil God.

“Damn it!”

Ghost Mother had sealed away all traces of the Evil God too thoroughly. Aside from some minor minions, nothing remained. This left Dark Crow fuming because it wanted to find an Evil God faith artifact and have #18 attempt to manifest the Evil God. Then, it could devour the Evil God’s spirit, boosting its curse power to new heights while seizing the Evil God’s faith.

Dark Crow grumbled. “I’ll just ask the God of the Abyss after we return. Ghost Mother probably won’t mind if we use time powers to mess with the Evil God’s faith spirit.

Hehehehe.

”

***

Meanwhile, Baby Cloud had transformed into an auspicious cloud, drifting lazily across the skies above the Stellar Moon Continent. For Baby Cloud, the chance to sleep freely in the sky without being used as transportation was rare and precious. When hungry, it could simply fly into a catastrophe-restricted zone for a quick snack. This was true relaxation.

Flower God’s ruin.

When Lu Ran and the others returned, they saw #18 chasing the playful little Bai Ze all over the garden, while Peanut was nowhere to be seen.

“#18, where’s Peanut?”

#18 gave up the chase and said, “She went to test her beastmaster skills. Master, you’re finally back. This little one... is so mischievous. It refuses to train at all.”

#18 glared at the Bai Ze, who seemed nothing like the wise being that understood all things and knew the affairs of spirits and gods. Instead, it acted like a naughty child.

Behind a tree, the Bai Ze stood up and stuck out its tongue at #18, then looked at Lu Ran with shining eyes.

“

Neener, neener, neener~!

”

Like a child seeing its father return from work.

“Never mind. It’s still young. It’s more important for it to have a happy childhood,” Lu Ran said with a kind smile.

#18 was flabbergasted.

Are you serious? Am I not young too?

Soon, Sudden Death King, Baby Cloud, Captain Doofus, Dark Crow, and the others returned one by one, and Lu Ran’s team was reunited.

“My King, is it time to hunt a Legendary?” Dark Crow hadn’t forgotten the Legendary mission.

“Yes,” Lu Ran said.

He planned to use one resurrection chance to revive Peanut. Lu Ran was well aware of this Mythical plantmaster’s strength. While plant-types might not be the strongest in combat, their support abilities were second to none. For example, Lu Ran had once obtained an incredibly powerful resource, the Time Fruit.

It could temporarily raise a familiar’s level to 100, allowing it to borrow power from its future self. This absurdly powerful resource was something Peanut could mass-produce effortlessly. Just imagine how formidable Lu Ran’s familiars would be with a Mythical Time-attribute plantmaster supporting them.

And the Time Fruit was just one of Peanut’s many support abilities. Lu Ran had long coveted these skills of the heroic spirit Peanut, but unfortunately, heroic spirits weren’t real living beings. The resources they created were illusory and only effective for themselves, lacking the permanence of real life.

Moreover, with Peanut guarding Blue Planet, Lu Ran wouldn’t have to worry about the monster siege update posing too great a threat to Xia.

“Then, My King, have you already chosen a target?”

“Yes. Six-Path Flower has already advanced to Superior Legendary. For this hunt,

ahem

, mission, the rest of you won’t be needed. Six-Path Flower can handle it alone. The mission doesn’t specify that the target must be an enemy.

“Having it kill a teammate and send them into reincarnation counts just the same. The Flower God has already gone to make arrangements. Let’s see if we can exploit this loophole. If not, we’ll find another target.”

The other familiars were baffled.

Does this work?

Lu Ran remained calm.

Playing by the rules to complete missions is out of the question. Finding shortcuts for a smooth, effortless victory is the way to go.